Installers of windows in residential structures and other buildings usually employ finishing trim to produce a finished appearance. The finishing trim is typically used to span, and thus conceal, gaps between windows and building structure, and is utilized in both interior and exterior application. Some finishing trim and trim material comprises polyvinyl chloride (vinyl), but other plastic material may also be used. Such plastic material can be cut, albeit with difficulty, by use of hand held cutting instruments such as utility knives. Finishing trim and trim material also sometimes comprise relatively soft metal such as aluminum or aluminum alloys, which are more difficult to cut, and may be very difficult if not impossible to cut with a hand held utility knife.
Installers typically cut vinyl finishing trim from L-shaped material, generating flat strips in the process. In order to cut flat strips from the L-shaped stock, installers usually use utility knives or similar hand-held cutting instruments. Utility knives may also be used to generate finishing trim with a desired width from flat strips that are too wide.
However, cutting the plastic stock material by hand with utility knives and similar devices is difficult and produces undesirable results, including irregular edges and wasted material. The primitive and difficult cutting by hand is hard on installers as well, causing fatigue and sometimes resulting in repetitive motion injury. Installers sometimes use a straight-edge to assist hand cutting, but undesirable results are still frequent.